]20 COLONIAL REPORTS MISCELLANEOUS. 



Ride 21 can stand. 



Rules 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26 can stand. 



Form A (Rubber Licence) should stand. 



With regard to the difficult problem of ensuring the prepara- 

 tion of a purer grade of rubber, and putting a stop to the large 

 amount of adulteration of that product that is at present 

 practised, the following methods of dealing with it may be 

 mentioned : 



(1) Prohibit the export of inferior grades. This is most easily 

 done by imposing a prohibitive export tax on the poorer qualities. 



(2) Enforce the Adulteration of Produce Ordinance, and con- 

 fiscate all impure rubbers. 



(3) Prohibit the tapping of all latex-yielding trees other than 

 Funtumia elastica, Landolpliia oivariensis, and Ficus Vogelii for 

 the purposes of preparing rubber from the latex. 



The drawback to all these methods is the fact that the inferior 

 grades of rubber are readily saleable, but at a reduced price, in 

 the home markets, and it becomes a matter for serious considera- 

 tion whether it is advisable to interfere with an established trade 

 of that sort. The real remedy, of course, lies with the merchants 

 who purchase the produce from the natives. They can, if they 

 combine together, easily effect a very great improvement in the 

 quality of rubber offered for sale, by simply rejecting the inferior 

 kinds. 



Something can also be done by teaching the native better 

 methods of preparation, but 110 great success is likely to follow 

 such measures, as the main practice objected to is the act of 

 adulteration, which the majority of natives know very well, 

 without being taught, to be detrimental to the quality of the 

 rubber. Besides, the adulteration is very frequently carried out 

 with the direct intention of cheating. 



Some good may be done under Ride 18 (as altered in this 

 Report), because the fear of having their licences confiscated may 

 induce some of the collectors to abandon this practice. 



In the French West African Colonies, the different grades of 

 rubber are sorted at the port of shipment; they are put into 

 separate bags, which are then sealed up and the grade or quality 

 distinctly marked on them before they are exported. The very 

 inferior grades are often completely rejected by the Government 

 inspectors. 



There is no objection to the latices of species yielding an 

 inferior product being mixed together before coagulation is 

 brought about, but it is highly desirable to keep the latices of 

 Funtumia elastica, Landolphia owariensis, and Ficus Vogelii 

 quite pure and separate one from the other. 



As any arrangements that may be made for regulating the 

 exploitation of rubber will necessitate the employment of a fairly 



